Stories about Salman Butt

TOPICS

No matter how hard Pakistan tries, controversy seems to dog its footsteps. It was a historic day for cricket as a major judgement came forth regarding the spot-fixing scandal.
The verdict: Salman Butt and Muhammad Asif have been sentenced to 30 months and one year in jail respectively, whereas Muhammad Amir, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to six months. The once loved cricketers were found guilty of conspiracy to cheat and conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments. This is such a massive and unnecessary tragedy that an already depressed nation did not need to suffer.
What is even more tragic is that the trio had tremendous ...

TOPICS

Dear Salman Butt,
I started following you from your days in the Under 17s. I still remember how I started loving Slazenger bats with yellow coloured grips, just because I saw you playing with one in an U-17 Asia Cup match back then. I still remember, randomly enough, that Habib Oil Mills sponsored that tournament.
I still remember your test debut against Bangladesh at Multan, where you made a quick fire 37 in the second innings. Salman, I still remember your ODI debut against West Indies, where you were out for a duck, caught in the slips. It was a decent delivery by ...

TOPICS

“The next station is London Bridge. Mind the gap between the train and the platform please”.
The announcement on the London Underground disrupted my train of thought. I was on my way to the Southwark Crown Court to learn the fate of Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, who were waiting for the jury’s verdict in the spot-fixing case.
At that time, I wasn’t thinking about the destination as much as I was pondering over their journey.
It was only a year earlier that a Butt-led Pakistan defeated Australia in England and the team’s avid followers felt that finally the leadership of the ...

TOPICS

Salman Butt, a man who as captain of the Pakistan cricket team managed to provide us with a constant reminder that our politicians aren’t the only ones without scruples, has gotten a job as a TV expert commentator. That’s just wonderful.
The fact that they’ve hired a man who isn’t even allowed to be involved in any form of professional cricket, for the disrepute he brought to the game and to Pakistan, is absolutely disgraceful.
This poor excuse of an athlete shouldn’t be allowed to profit in any way from the game that he very skilfully helped tarnish. This is yet ...

TOPICS

“I am not playing in the event, I thought it was worth participating as an expert,” said Salman Butt when he was asked to comment on his recent decision to appear as a cricket commentator for the World Cup on a local news channel.
I am outraged at his decision, and my anger is the result of a bruised cricket-loving ego.
Salman Butt lost the right to associate himself with cricket the day the ICC proved him a liar and cheater. His cockiness regarding the matter is appalling; it’s almost like he’s telling the world “they were just no-balls, it’s not a big ...

TOPICS

The troubled trio involved in the spot-fixing case has finally received a verdict that has ruined their cricketing careers – a severe but expected decision.
Cricket fans had earlier speculated that Mohammad Amir would be cleared to play with a penalty or short ban but the five year ban has put a big question mark on his career and in the minds of cricket fans.
The bans imposed on 26-year-old Salman Butt and 28-year-old Mohammed Asif have as good as finished their careers; 10 and 7 year bans mean that at this age, they have a rare chance of making a ...

TOPICS

On August 26 and 27, during Pakistan’s Fourth Test at Lord’s Cricket Ground against England last year, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif allegedly agreed to bowl deliberate no-balls.
Britain’s News of the World broke the news, sending shock waves throughout the world of cricket, claiming that then Test captain Salman Butt, together with 18-year-old Amir and Asif were involved in a spot-fixing scandal in association with their agent Mazhar Majeed.
The Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has charged the trio with corruption offences. The CPS said in a statement that the suspended trio has been
“charged with conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments ...

TOPICS

For Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, February 5 is judgment day – the day when their future in cricket will be decided.
As the court’s verdict is pending, there are many questions floating in the minds of avid cricket lovers; will the players get a fair trial or is the ICC hell bent on making an example out of them? Are they really guilty of those charges?
Setting these questions aside – as the answers will be given to us soon- I want to reflect on how their possible exclusion from the World Cup squad will affect the team ...

TOPICS

For those of you who didn’t see Salman Butt and Yawar Saeed get questioned by British journalists, go on YouTube and have a look. Butt looks absolutely terrified; eyes wide open with a pale face and nervous. Why shouldn’t he have been? His manager didn’t trust him enough to let him speak, in case he let the ‘wrong words’ slip out of his mouth.
Since the news of the scandal hit and created pandemonium in the international community, apart from Mohammad Aamer’s childhood coach Asif Bajwa, not one official from the PCB or the government has publicly defended the players. ...

TOPICS

I have never supported Shahid Afridi. Is it because I never bought into the whole boom boom mania? Yes, partly.
Actually, for me it was more to do with the waste of his talent then the lack of it. Let’s face it, we all know he has never lacked talent or flamboyance for that matter, but the way he has gone about things in his career in the past are well to say the least, a bit daft. He’s been thrilling all of us since he arrived in the Pakistan team but the hope to ever see him blossom into something ...